Normative and Descriptive Approaches to Multiattribute Decision Making

Abstract

"The main problem in multiattribute decision making is deciding how to trade off increased value on one attribute for lower value on another attribute. Generally, there are two approaches to multiattribute decision making: Normative approach assuming that the rational behavior of decision maker is based on a set of axioms but descriptive approach based on pairwise comparisons. Firstly, the paper deals with the normative approach. It illustrates the utilization of normative approach on the example from the area of management of a purchase in a firm, in which the choice from the finite set of alternatives is necessary. Then, the same decision problem is solved with aid of analytic hierarchy process developed by Saaty. Finally, the comparison of the two approaches is made.